Rotary engine.



- l Patented Nov. 4,1902. ,WESTINGHOUSE RoTAnY ENGINE. i Apliucation med Nov. 12, 1897.) 'um Model.) Y 2 sheets-sheet 2;

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` T0 cir/ZZ wtonttt' may Grtnern/f Beitknown that LGEORGE WEsTINGHoUsE, a citizen of the United States, residing ati; Pittsburg, in the county of`Allegheny'and; State of Pennsylvania, hav'einvented or disl covered a certain new and useful Improve-j ment in Rotary Engines, of which improvel.

, UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, OFPITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROTARYENGINE.

SEECIFICATJL'ON forming partei Letters .llI-fatent No. 712,626, dated November 4, 1902. Application filed November 12, `'1837. Serial No."(58,264. (No model.)

ment the following is a specification.

forth.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an application of my invention, Figure` l is aside View, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a rotary engineconstruct-V ed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a section on the line of Fig. 1;.Fig. 3, ai

section on the line y y of Fig. l on an enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 a section of apart of the distributing-ring on the line e' .e of Fig. 3.

In the embodiment of my invention as shown in the drawings a rotary disk 1 is mounted on a shaft2 and is adapted to rotate inside of the maincasing 3. The disk l is provided with several series of blad es or vanes 4, arranged Ain circlesconcentric with the disk l and against which the steam actsto cause rotation of thedisk and shaft, and these blades or vanes project into the circular spaces between the several series of fixed blades or vanes 10, secured to the stationary part 5 of the engine. The partmaybe and as shown in the drawings is annular in forni, and in such case is removably secured to the fixed main casing 3 by means of the bolts 6. Secured to the part 5 is a removable head or bonnet 7, in which the supply or distribution valves 16 are mounted and'in which one of the bearings 8 for the main shaft 2 is supported, the other bearing 9 being supported in and secured to the main casing 3. f

In my improvement the motive duid is adapted to actbyimpact on the vanes 4 to cause rotation of the" disk 1 and is supplied iirst to the inner ring of vanes or blades on the disk 1, and afteracting thereon it fiows out-- l ward, alternately passing between the guide blades on the stationary part 5 and the moving blades on the rotarydisk 1, the general direction of the movement of the fluid beingradial and away from the center ofthe disk.

Live steam is supplied to the engine through the passage 11, which opens into an annular Achamber 12, and from the chamber 12 it passes through the valve-controlled ports or passages 13 into the chambers 14, from which it is discharged through the nozzles l5 against the vanes or blades.

The ports or passages 13 are controlled by the duid-pressure-actuated valves 16, which are acted on by tne pressure of thelive steam in the chamber 12, tending to hold them open,

and by the pressure of the springs 17, tending to close them. Each of the valves 16 is formed integral with 01 connected toa small piston 18, fitted in a bushing- 19, on one end of which is formed a seat for the valve 1G.

"The area of the piston 18 is somewhat greaterl ythan the area of the valve 16, and the pres sure of the live steam acting on the piston 18 tends tocompress the springs 17 and hold the valves 16 away from their seats.

In order to control the valves 16, Iemploy means for applying fluid-pressure to or releasing it from the'outer ends of the piston 18, and for this purpose I provide a ring 21, which tits in a groove in the annular cover or bonriphery of the ring 2l and extend entirely ICO grooves 24 or to cut off those passages from the chamber 12 and to open them to the exhaust-passage 30, which is in communication with the atmosphere. As shown in Fig. 3, the passages 25, which are on the right of the piston-valve 28, are open to the chamber 12, and live steam is therefore being admitted through those passages on the right of the valve to the grooves on the ring with which they are in communication, and as each of these grooves communicates with two diametrically opposite piston-chambers in the bonnet. 7 by a passage similar to the passage 23 (shown in Figs. 2 and 4) live steam will be admitted to the piston-chambers connected with those grooves which are pnt in communication with the chamber 12 bythe movement grooves 24 with the valve-chamber 26, are

open to the atmosphere through the passage 30, and the piston-chambers with which those passages and grooves connect are also in communication with the atmosphere, -and the valves 16, connected to the pistons in those chambers, will be held open by the pressure of the live steam in the chamber 12. If the governing-valve 28 be moved to the limit of its stroke to the left, all of the grooves 24 will be lled with live steam and all of the valves 16 will be held closed, and if the valves 28 be moved far enough to the right to put all of the passages 25 in communication with the exhaust-port 30 then all of the grooves 24 will be in communication with the atmosphere, and all of the valves 16 will be open when the chamber 12 is charged with steam.

The governing-valve 28 is formed integral with or connected to a piston 31 by means ofa hollow stem 32, and live steam is admitted through the hollow stem and through passages 33 in the piston to the chamber 34, in

which the piston 31 is tted. v The governingvalve is thus always exposed on its opposite ends to the pressure in the chamber 12, and

the passages 23, gro'oves 24, and passages 25 and 30. As the steam flows through the ports 13 into the chambers 14 and thence through the nozzles 15 and impinges on theinner row or series of vanes or blades 4 it causes rotation of the disk 1 and then flows outwardly The governort between the members of the first row or series ofV stationary vanes or blades 10 to the second row or series of moving blades 4, and soon until it has passed radially outward beyond the outer row of blades into the chamber 35, from which it may be exhausted through a passage 36. The steam after acting on one series of the movable vanes flows outwardly, being deflected so as to impinge alternately on tixed and moving blades; but the general direction of the movementis radially outward, and this is an important feature when the engine is rotating at a high velocity, since the action of centrifugal force tends to increase the velocity of the fluid in a radial outward direction, and therefore does not, as in some other forms of rotary engines, tend to oppose the movement of the Huid.

In accordance with my improvement the blades in each row are all of greaterlength than the blades of the next inner row, so that the spaces for the passage of steam between the blades increase in lateral width-that is, in a direction at-right angles to the plane of rotation-from the inner row outwardly and can be so proportioned as to provide for the increasing volume of the steam. The enlargement of the spaces is obtained, preferably, as shown in the drawings, not by forming a continuous inclined surface on the disk 1 or on the part 5 or on both of these parts, but by an abrupt oset beyond each row or series of both the fixed and movable blades, as shown in Fig. 2. By means of this construction the steam in passing outwardly from one row of blades to the otherl will pass into a space 0f greater width than that from which it comes, and. as the blades in the next and widerspace are longer than the blades last acted on by the steam and longer than the width of the space from which the steam comes all of the steam will be delivered against the working surface of the blades and none of it will be blown through the clearance-spaces at the free ends of the blades. It will be obvious that, so far as this feature of my improvement is concerned, it is immaterial whether the direction of the movement of the steam be radially outward or in some other directionthat is, the blades of increasing length overlapping or extending beyond the ends of the blades from which the steam comes may be employed in motors in which the blades are dierently located relatively to the rotary member on which the blades are secured, and the movement of the steam may be in a direction parallel to the axis, or it may be at any angle thereto, so far as this feature is concerned.

When the velocity of the steam is very great, it mayin my improved construction be discharged into and pass through the spaces in aseries of the blades'without any contact with or action on the non-effective surface of the disk or of the stationary part to which the guid e-blades are secured. The friction of the steam on-these-lateral surfaces is either alto- IOO IIO

gether prevented or very much reduced, and

the efficiency of the steam is thereforein`` creased.` 1f, as in some constructions, the stcamin its outward passageshonld com-` pletely [ill the spaces between the blades and the spaces betweenv the :surface of the disk and the surface from which the guide-blades` able when there is any appreciable degree ofI moisturein the steam.

In my improvement the steam `is delivered l against the innerseries of blades from theuozzles 15, which are so formed as to deliver the' steam to the blades at a comparatively low pressure, but at a very high velocity. The

employment of the nozzles and the consequent eect on the motive fluid results in the steam being delivered to the blades'so as to act by impact thereon and not merely by expansion,

as it would if the steam instead of being delivered by the separate nozzles: were suppliedv toalarge or continuous chamberor space having free outlet through all ofthe spaces between the blades of the inner row at the same time. It will be seen, therefore, that the employment of the nozzles, whereby the steam is delivered to the blades at its highest velocity, the radially-outward movement of the steam, and the abrupt widening of the spaces between the disk and the stationary part 5 and the lengthening of the blades all tend to the most efficient action of the steam by impact on the blades.

The ports 13, controlled by the Valves 1G, are of much greater capacity than the passages through the nozzles 15, and the opening-and-closing movement of the valves 16` will therefore not cause any wirefdrawiug of the steam, the pressure of the steam in the chamber 14 being the same as the pressure in the chamber 12 `when the valves 16 are open.

It will be seen that with my improvement Aas the governor-valve 28 is moved to the right or to the leftl to connect the passages 25 with the atmosphere or with the chamber 12 the valves 16 will be opened or closed in pairs consecutively and that but one pair of the valves will be liable toany intermittent opening or closing on account of slight variations in the speed or load. `All of the other valves will be open or closed, and therefore will not cause any Wiredrawing of the steam,by which its efliciency may be affected. o

While I prefer to have the valves operative in pairs as described, my improvement is not limited to this particular construction, and, if preferred, the valves may be adapted to operate singly or any number at one time, or`

An important feature of my invention is the means for controlling the action of the valves by the admission of the fluid to and its release from the outer sides of the pistons 1S, by which the movement of any number of valves may be effected by fluid-pressure under the control of thegoverning-valve without other mechanism or moving parts than the valves and ,the governing device. l The formationof the grooves 24 and passages 23 and 25 in the removable ring 21 provides a simple, compact, and inexpensive construction by which the governing-valve may control the positions of the valves 16. 'F.helocations of the grooves and passages in the ring are such that they may all be easily andfquickly formed by turning and drilling,

vand the interior `of the passages and grooves may be made as smooth as desired, and by removing the ring the passages may be easily and quickly cleaned. These passages and grooves when formed as shown and described may be made much smaller and with greater accuracy and finish than they could be made by coring out the casting, and the size of the part 22 in which the ring 21 is fitted is `very much less than would be required if the passages and grooves were formed iu any other manner.

The construction as shown provides a convenient and practical way of forming the passages; but my invention is notlimited to this particular construction, and, if preferred, pipes or cored passages or passages formed in any other way may beemployed.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A 1. In a fluid-actuated motor, the combination with a set of symmetrically-disposed supply-valves, of independent fluid-conducting passages severally leading to certain valves of said set and a governor-valve which oper ates to successively open and close said passages and thereby control the operation of the supply-valves.

2. In a Huid-actuated motor, the combination with a. set of supply-valves adapted to be actuated by fluid-pressure, of a set of fluidconducting passages severally leading to one tion of supply-valves controlling the supply of motive Huid, and adapted to be actuated by Huid under pressure, and a governingvalve controlling the simultaneous operation of a plurality of thesupply-valves, substantially as set forth.

` A5. In a rotary motor, the combination with a rotary member provided with vanes, or

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blades, of a series of independent. passages for conducting fluid into contact with the vanes, or blades, a series of fluid-actuated valves for severally controlling the supply of fluid to the passages and a governor-Valve for controlling the operation of the supply-valves, substantially as set forth.

` 6. In a casing, frame, orcover, ofau engine, the combination, With a series of chambers, of two parts adapted to form a tight joint, grooves, or channels, leading to the chambers and formed in one of the parts, and covered by the other part forming the joint, and a governing-valve controlling the admission of fluid to and its release from the grooves, substantially as set forth.

'7. The combination, with a series of supplyvalves operative bythe action of fluid under pressure, a governing-valve for controlling the fluid under pressure, and grooves or channels formed in the surface of a removable piece through Which fluid may be supplied to or released from the supply-valves by the action of the governor-valve, to control the supply-valves, su bstantially as set forth.

8. The combination, in a rotary engine, of a rotary member, o1' disk, vanes or blades secured to the rotary member, a series of lsupply-valves for 'supplying steam to the vanes, or blades, and Which are adapted to be held open by fluid under pressure, pistons formed on or secured to the supply-valves, and a governor-valve controlling the admission of fluid to the pistons and its release therefrom, substantially as set forth.

9. In a rotary engine, the combination, With a series of valves controlling the supply of fluid to the vanes or blades, of the engine, pistons secured to the valves and fitted in chambers arranged in a circle about the axis of the main shaft, aring concentric with the chambers and fitted into a cap, or bonnet, so as to form a tight joint therewith, grooves or channels in the surface of the ring forming the joint, and a governor-valve controlling the admission of fluid to and its release from the grooves or channels, substantially as set forth. v

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEO. VVESTINGHOUSE. IVitnesses:

E. W. NEWELL, E. GALLAGHER. 

